Too Little, Too Late

The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

The current approach to resolving sovereign debt crises does not work: sovereign debt restructurings come too late and do too little. Though they impose enormous costs on societies, these restructurings are often not deep enough to provide the conditions for economic recovery (as illustrated by the Greek debt restructuring of 2012). And if the debtor decides not to accept the terms demanded by the creditors, finalizing a restructuring can be slowed by legal challenges (as evidenced in Argentina).
A fresh start for distressed debtors is a basic principle of a well-functioning market economy, yet there is no international bankruptcy framework for sovereign debts. While this problem is not new, the United Nations and the global community are now willing to do something about it. Providing guidance for those who intend to take up reform, this book assesses the relative merits of various debt-restructuring proposals, especially in relation to the main deficiencies of the current nonsystem. With contributions by leading academics and practitioners, the volume reflects the overwhelming consensus among specialists on the need to find workable solutions.

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About the Authors

Joseph StiglitzCo-PresidentInitiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD)

Joseph E. Stiglitz is co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, and Chairman of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. He is University Professor at Columbia, teaching in its Economics Department, its Business School, and its School of International and Public Affairs. He chaired the UN Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, created in the aftermath of the financial crisis by the President of the General Assembly. He is former Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank and Chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2001.

José Antonio OcampoCo-President Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD)

Jose Antonio Ocampo is Co-President of IPD, Professor of Professional Practice in the School of International and Public Affairs, and Fellow of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. Prior to his appointment at Columbia, Professor Ocampo served as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and head of UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), as Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and has held a number of high-level posts in the Government of Colombia, including Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Director of the National Planning Department, and Minister of Agriculture . Professor Ocampo is author or editor of over 30 books and has published over 200 scholarly articles on macroeconomic theory and policy, international financial issues, economic development, international trade, and Colombian and Latin American economic history.

Martin GuzmanPostdoctoral Research ScholarGraduate School of BusinessColumbia University

Martin Guzman is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Columbia University Graduate School of Business and an Associate Professor at Universidad de Buenos Aires.

He is a co-chair Columbia University Initiative for Policy Dialogue's Taskforce on Debt Restructuring and Sovereign Bankruptcy, and a member of the INET Research Group on "Macroeconomic Externalities” chaired by Professor Joseph Stiglitz. He is also a Senior Fellow in CIGI’s Global Economy Program. He is an Editor of the Journal of Globalization and Development.

He holds a PhD in Economics from Brown University. His research fields are Macroeconomics and Economic Development.